


So You Had A Bad Day

by guardianofdragonlore



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Garak is many things mentally healthy is not one of them, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Nightmares, Remember I write these in 30 minutes, Slight references to TNG, Time to get sad bois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 01:07:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11070867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianofdragonlore/pseuds/guardianofdragonlore
Summary: Nightmares are a common thing for Garak, but sometimes they go wrong.





	So You Had A Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> I know nothing of mental health, let me say that right off.   
> However the sensations I describe are what I feel whenever I am on the edge, so please be careful!
> 
> Enjoy the trash.

A flash of lights. 

Are there five? Wrong answer.

Very impressive technique Elim! Would you be willing to share this with others? 

Naturally. 

I can't believe he used my techniques on a Starfleet Captain! I'm flattered. 

You have betrayed me Elim. 

No Fa- 

You have betrayed me and in doing so you have betrayed Cardassia! I want you to leave. 

I hate this place, and I hate you!

.  
.  
.

Garak's eyes slowly slid open, the image of the Doctor's terror imprinted in his mind. Another nightmare. They were coming more and more frequently. Ever since he changed quarters to join Odo in fact. 

Nightmares weren't exactly what they were. More like memories. They were his memories!

They weren't even the worst memories he had, so why these?

Garak sat up slowly. Best not to disturb Odo if he could help it. Regeneration was an important time for him, a time where he could completely relax. Garak respected that. He found the same solace in his work.

Pushing the blanket off, he padded over to the repliactor and ordered a cup of sweetened tea. When Ezri found out about the nightmares she recommended a certain blend. Usually Garak ignored such inane solutions, but this time he was desperate enough to try it. Somehow it worked.

Humming as he waited for the tea to materialize, Garak's mind turned to his work. There was a suit commission for Quark again. Some ghastly color combination of putrid green and a gray better suited for Romulan uniforms. When Odo saw the sketches he made some quip along the same lines.

A smile flickered across Garak's face before it fell again, his nightmare replaying itself. His mind always did this!

Just as he would begin to settle in to his life, it would act up. Torment him with each reason he shouldn't find peace until he felt like an outsider again. As an outsider he would lose himself in what ever distraction he could find. Eventually he'd find peace, then the cycle would start up again.

Garak was used to the cycle, but he didn't think it would hit the nightmare stage for another few weeks. Moving in with Odo must have triggered it.

A glass of kanar would be perfect at the moment, but their replicator had a block on almost all alcoholic drinks. Whatever schnapps was, it was not something Garak would ever drink again. Tea would have to do.

Minds were too delicate. Garak knew that, he had broken more than enough, but to be confronted with his own faults was frustrating to say the least. If there was a cure all out there for his particular troubles, he would take it in an instant. Then he could be happy. Not only happy, he could be connected in healthy ways with the rest of the universe! His friends wouldn't be kept at arms length on his bad days, and Odo...

Garak's mind, already in a whirlwind, decided it was time to shut down. That was not good. 

He placed his half empty mug back in the replicator before it fell to the floor. Shut downs only happened when he was about to have an attack. Not now! Odo would finish regenerating any moment. He shouldn't see Garak like this. Not when it felt like the air itself was crushing him. Not when it felt like his skin was about to split apart. Not when his mind was-

"Breathe, Elim," a cool hand brushed over the back of Garak's neck.

Garak opened his mouth to try to speak, but that was too much. Even the sound of the air from the vents drove his mind to the brink. The only thing that felt just right was the hand on his neck, the fingers tracking lines across the edge of each scale.

"Do you want to take a trip to one of Bajor's quieter moons later today?" Odo asked softly. He and Ezri had probably talked about this. Garak's problems. What to do if it was obvious the airlock's draw was growing again. 

Garak couldn't even find it in himself to be annoyed. She probably told Odo all about the nightmare cycle too! Never mind the fact that one expects a certain amount of privacy about the failings of their mind.

"We could stay here for as long as you need to."

"No...'' Garak said. He forced himself to turn and face Odo. Odo hadn't yet mastered the complete complexities of facial expressions, but he was adept at the overload of emotions expressed through the eyes. Now his eyes spoke of understanding. Love. But it wasn't blind. Nothing could cure Garak's mind, just like nothing could cure Odo. But they could try.

"The moon sounds wonderful. I'll... Do something while you borrow a runabout?"

Looking at the peaceful light that entered Odo's eyes, Garak couldn't help but let a small bit of anxiety slip away. Odo knew what Garak needed, not because some psychologist told him, but because he knew from experience.

Sometimes Garak forgot Odo had bad days too. Days even worse than his attack now. When he couldn't bring himself to take a solid form until the last possible moment before he had to go to his office. There hadn't been one since Garak moved in, but that could change at any moment. 

Somehow they would make it work.

**Author's Note:**

> Odo will get his turn.


End file.
